Fred Figglehorn (stylized on webpage and on T-shirts as FЯED) is a fictional character created and portrayed by American actor Lucas Cruikshank. Fred is a 6-year-old boy, with a high voice, and has a dysfunctional home life and "anger management issues".^[3] Cruikshank, a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska, created the Fred video series for his channel on the video-sharing website YouTube, to center around the Fred character.^[4] Although Cruikshank voices Fred, the audio is digitally altered to sound higher-pitched than Cruikshank's true voice.

History[link]

Cruikshank introduced the Fred character in a video on JKL Productions, a channel he started on YouTube with his cousins, Jon and Katie Smet. He and his cousins set up the JKL Productions channel on June 11, 2006, and Cruikshank uploaded several videos testing out different characters. His first Fred video was uploaded on October 30, 2006, and when this character started to become popular, Cruikshank made more videos featuring Fred.^[5] On April 30, 2008, these videos were removed from JKL Productions, and added to the Fred channel. On May 1 the first official video of the series, titled "Fred on May Day" was released, explaining that Cruikshank asked YouTube for the Fred channel. Someone else previously owned the channel, which was later turned into one of Fred's enemies in the Fred series. By April 2009, the channel had over one million subscribers, making it the first YouTube channel to do so, and the most subscribed channel at the time.^[6] However, in August 2009, YouTube celebrities Ryan Higa's and Sean Fujiyoshi's channel, Nigahiga, overtook Fred as the most subscribed channel. It was the third to reach two million, in September 2010, shortly after falling to third.

As of February 2012, over 2.3 million were subscribed to the channel,^[7] and as of May 2012, the videos have received over 914 million views^[8] Cruikshank has made a few television appearances, both as himself, and as Fred.

In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed Fred: The Movie, which aired on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010. Nickelodeon has created a franchise surrounding the character and began producing the sequel in March 2011.^[9][10][11] Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred aired on October 22, 2011, also on Nickelodeon. In December 2011, it was announced that Fred: The Show would be produced, consisting of 20 11-minute episodes, and a third movie would air later in 2012.^[12]

Content[link]

Fred (stylized on webpages as FЯED) is an internet video series centering around the dysfunctional 6-year-old Fred Figglehorn, created by Lucas Cruikshank.

Fred lives with his recovering drug-addicted and alcoholic mother, whose voice is often heard, and his grandmother. It is implied that Fred has been the victim of child abuse (for example being locked in a dog cage for three days), however he frequently speaks of his love for his mother, particularly after her stay at rehab. Fred's father is mentioned several times as being on death row in the state penitentiary. Fred has not met his father, as he left Mrs. Figglehorn while she was still pregnant with Fred. In seasons one through three, Fred communicates with all characters off-screen.

On screen characters are seen for the first time in a dream sequence, in "Fred: A Star In His Own Mind", Fred dreams of being a famous actor, meeting fan girls and other famous actors. Season four, as it was filmed after Fred: The Movie, marked a change in production style, it is filmed in a higher video quality, and shows other on-screen characters. The original production style was revived for a few episodes in 2010, introducing the Cladio character, after the movie was released in the UK, and ended when Cruikshank returned to movie filming. Leading up to the second movie's release, a new series, called Figgle Chat, was produced, and features internet and television stars. Following that, an animated series, It's Fred!, named after Fred's catchphrase, began being uploaded to the channel.

Cruikshank has described the channel as "programming for kids by kids".^[4] The series is intended as a parody of people who, in Cruikshank's words, "think that everyone is so interested in them." Cruikshank believes that viewers either "automatically love Fred or automatically hate Fred, there is no in between".^[13] The videos primarily consist of the character speaking to the audience about what is happening in his life. Fred has a high-pitched "chipmunk" voice, making him sound more like a 6-year-old. According to Cruikshank, this effect, and the hyperactive appearance of the character, are achieved by speeding up the audio.^[5]

The first season follows Fred attempting to perform a number of activities during the summer, until his mother attends rehab. "Fred Goes Swimming" is the most watched video on the Fred channel, with over 56 million views.^[14] The second season explores Fred's love for Judy, a girl in his class, and attending school. There Fred decides to run against class bully Kevin, for class president. The song "Watch How I Do This", by Kev Blaze, is featured in a number of the season 2 videos. Season three again follows the daily adventures of Fred, in school, and with classmates, and shows Fred's interest in singing. The fourth season, now with on-screen characters, shows Fred traveling around town trying out different occupations. Following this, Fred holds contests surrounding his two movies, gets a visit from a creeping character named Cladio, gets invited to host a talk show, dispels rumours of being owned by Nickelodeon, and becomes animated.

The series uses a floating timeline, that is, it is always taking place in the current year, meaning that Fred is perpetually 6 years old, and in kindergarten.

Filmography[link]

This is a list of videos uploaded to the Fred channel.^[15][16] 60 videos are considered part of the original Fred series, however no official list exists. The YouTube show feature lists 49 episodes, numbered 1 to 47, spilt into four seasons,^[17] while a playlist, linked to from the Fred channel, named Classic FRED!!!, contains 18 videos ranging from 2007 to 2010.^[18] Since the apparent end of the Fred series in early 2011, two series' have been produced and uploaded, a six episode arc titled Figgle Chat, where Fred interviews internet and television stars,^[19] and an animated series titled It's FRED!, which shows Fred attend school, and the previously off-screen characters.^[20] Eight music videos are also listed here.

Albums[link]

[edit] It's Hackin' Christmas With Fred

It's Hackin' Christmas with Fred is a four track EP released on November 10, 2009. The music videos for the singles "Christmas Cash" and "Christmas is Creepy" were also released on the Fred YouTube channel. The album was available online via iTunes.^[21]

[edit] Who's Ready To Party?

Who's Ready To Party? is an album released on September 21, 2010. The music videos for the singles I Wanna Be A Celebrity, Don't Forget to Brush, Who's Ready to Party?, The Babysitter's a Vampire, and Tater Haters, were also released on the Fred YouTube channel.

Films[link]

[edit] Fred: The Movie

Fred: The Movie is a 2010 film based on the YouTube series about Fred Figglehorn. It features Lucas Cruikshank as Fred, Pixie Lott as Judy, Jennette McCurdy as Bertha, Jake Weary as Kevin, John Cena as Fred's dad, and Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Fred's mom. It follows the character as he tries to track down his crush, Judy (after she moves away). It is written by David A. Goodman, directed by Clay Weiner, and produced by Brian Robbins.^[22] Filming began November 9, 2009, and wrapped up December 20, 2009.^[23] The movie was released on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010, and the DVD was released October 5, 2010^[9] as well as streaming media such as Netflix.

[edit] Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred

Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred is a 2011 Halloween-themed sequel to Fred: The Movie. It first aired on October 22, 2011. After Fred has broken up with Judy, he becomes convinced that his new neighbor is a vampire. The Judy character was written out, and Bertha was replaced with Daniella Monet.

Third film[link]

On December 1, 2011, a third Fred movie was announced. It will premiere in late 2012, after an 11-minute series (with 20 episodes) airs.^[12]

Sponsorship and appearances[link]

Zipit Wireless Messenger (Z2) sponsored the first season of "Fred", which had several cameos in various videos posted to the Fred channel. Although the collaboration had originally been kept low-key, Fred has a separate website promoting the Zipit.^[24] Walden Media hired Cruikshank to promote the film City of Ember, along with the sci-fi novel it was based on, and cameos from the film's star Tim Robbins in Fred episodes and a mock movie trailer.^[25]

Cruikshank made a cameo appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which originally aired on February 16, 2009.^[26] Also in 2009, in the episode "Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School", the comedy film Year One is quoted several times.

Cruikshank has launched a website to promote the Fred series, and sell Fred T-shirts and other merchandise. The merchandise is also available at Hot Topic, Justice, and Five Below stores. Fred has appeared at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards as well as the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards presenting awards to winners off-stage.

In October and November 2011 videos were uploaded to the Fred channel, as well as Cruikshank's personal channel, with Ari Gold as his character Power, from the film Adventures of Power.^[27]

Other channels[link]

Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions, a group comprising twins Jon and Katie Smet and Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin. Although Cruikshank formally left the group, JKL prefers to keep Lucas' "L" in its name. Cruikshank deleted all of his individual videos when he left JKL Productions, but he can still be seen in a few of their videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called "lucas", in which he appears as himself. In the June 25, 2010, Annoying Orange episode, Cruikshank made a cameo as Fred, the first time Fred has officially appeared on a different YouTube channel.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fred Figglehorn at the Internet Movie Database
• Fred at the Internet Movie Database
• Fred's channel on YouTube
• Fred's official website
• JKL Production's channel on YouTube

Lucas Cruikshank
Cruikshank at YouTube Live in 2008
Born	(1993-08-29) August 29, 1993 (age 18)
Occupation	Actor, student
Years active	2008–present
Notable work(s)	Fred
Home town	Columbus, Nebraska, United States
Internet information
Web alias(es)	Fred, Lucas
Web hosting service(s)	YouTube
Signature phrase	"Hey! It's Fred!"
Website
fredfigglehorn.com

Lucas Cruikshank (born August 29, 1993)^[1] is an American comedic actor. Living in Columbus, Nebraska, he created the character Fred Figglehorn, and the associated Fred series for his channel, on the video-sharing website YouTube.^[2] These videos are centered on Fred Figglehorn, a fictional 6-year-old who has a dysfunctional home life and "anger management issues".^[3]

Life and career[link]

Cruikshank, while testing character ideas, created the Fred character in a Halloween video, and uploaded it to a YouTube channel that he had started with his two cousins. Upon the success of Fred, he started a video series, and set up the Fred channel in April 2008.^[4] By April 2009, the channel had over one million subscribers, making it the first YouTube channel to do so, and the most subscribed channel at the time.^[5] In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed Fred: The Movie, which aired on Nickelodeon, in September 2010. Nickelodeon has created a franchise surrounding the character, a sequel, Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred, aired in October 2011, and a TV series, Fred: The Show, is airing, a third movie will air in 2012.^[6] In November 2010, Cruikshank attempted to create another character, Doug Derky, and uploaded his blog to the Fred channel.^[7] Due to the strong Fred Figglehorn fan base at that channel, the video was left with mostly negative reviews.^[8]

Cruikshank grew up in Columbus, Nebraska, and has five sisters and two brothers.^[4] He has also appeared in a number of other television shows.

Sponsorship and appearances[link]

In the Fred series, Cruikshank promotes various products and movies. He is seen using a Zipit,^[9] as well as his own products^[10] and T-shirts.^[11] In addition to promoting his own movies and albums, Cruikshank has also promoted the movies City of Ember,^[12] Year One,^[13] and Adventures of Power,^[14] and the artist Kev Blaze.^[15]

He has made a cameo appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which originally aired on February 16, 2009.^[16]

Cruikshank has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show, as well as the Hannah Montana episode "Come Fail Away", which aired December 6, 2009.^[17] He appeared at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards as well as the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards presenting awards to winners off-stage. In 2011, he appeared on the Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards,^[18] and in an episode of Supah Ninjas.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Other channels[link]

Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions, a group comprising twins Jon and Katie Smet and Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin.^[4] Although Cruikshank formally left the group, JKL prefers to keep Lucas' "L" in its name. Cruikshank deleted all of his individual videos when he left JKL Productions, but he can still be seen in a few of their videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called "lucas", in which he appears as himself.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lucas Cruikshank at the Internet Movie Database
• Lucas Cruikshank's channel on YouTube
• Fred's channel on YouTube
• Fred Figglehorn official website